Ann: The immigration department has issued new national identity cards to Arakanese nationals in Ann Township, for the 2010 elections, and has identified their race on the cards as Burman rather than Arakanese, a teacher from Ann said.
 
"Our parents are Rahkine [Arakanese], but the immigration department has issued ID cards to us with "Burman nationals" printed on the cards. We disagree with such a listing on our national ID cards, but the authority has refused to correct our nationality listed on the cards," he said.
 
Local sources said many Arakanese people in Ann Township, had received their ID cards with Burman listed as the race instead of Arakanese, but they were not given the chance to refuse the incorrect ID cards.
 
"We requested them to correct our nationalities on the ID cards, but the officials told us they were very busy making national ID cards for everyone, in and around the township and they would be able to correct the nationalities, only after the 2010 elections. We had no other choice, so we accepted the ID cards, despite our nationalities being wrongly listed as Burmans," he said.
 
Ann Town is located in central Arakan State and has the largest army cantonment in the state, stationed there. Many relatives of Burmese soldiers and officials are now living in the town along with local Arakanese people.
 
"The immigration department in our township has been issuing new national ID cards to Burmese settlers and local Arakanese in the township, since January 2009, so that they can vote in the 2010 elections, but all the ID cards that have been issued have Burman listed as the race," the teacher added.
 
Some Arakanese people have complained about the new ID cards, but the government employees have remained silent on the issue, in order to avoid the attention of the higher authority.
 
A clerk from a government department said, "Burmese high officials always explain to us that Arakanese and Burman are the same nationality and the same people, regardless of what is listed on the ID card. Whether Arakanese or Burman, is listed as the nationality, it is not a problem."
 
Most local people in the township are uneducated and naive, so they accepted the ID cards with Burman listed as the race, without any objections.
 
A politician from Sittwe said, "It is a Burmanisation policy against our Arakanese people and was done deliberately by the authorities. The Burmese military authority wants to see the whole of Ann Township populated with Burman people, not Arakanese, because the town is strategically important to the Burmese army and the authority wants the town to be an army city in western Burma."